Women’s National Hockey Team Takes Pre-Olympic Series Lead Over U.S.

Team Canada celebrates their 2-1
overtime victory over the U.S. in Minnesota on Dec. 3. (Hockey Canada images)

Shannon Szabados stopped 27 shots and
Brianne Jenner scored in overtime to give Canada a 2-1 win and the lead in the
six-game series with the U.S. as they prepare for the 2018 Pyeongchang
Olympics.

“I think it was huge for us especially
coming after 4 Nations where we fell a little short. To be in Minnesota the
state of hockey, on their turf it was pretty big win for us,” said forward Emily
Clark (Saskatoon, Sask/University of Wisconsin, WCHA).

Canada stopped the U.S. on back-to-back
power play opportunities in the first period as neither side got on the
scoreboard.

The U.S. was the first to strike just over
a minute into play in the second period when Megan Keller shot the puck glove
side low after gathering a rebound on the power play to give them the 1-0 lead.

Canada’s captain Marie-Philip Poulin
(Beauceville, Que./Montreal, CWHL) scored the equalizer with just over two
minutes remaining. A long lead pass was re-directed by Poulin at centre ice to
the stick of Meghan Agosta (Ruthven, Ont./Hockey Canada). She came charging
into the offensive zone and and drove to the net, trying to pull the puck
around the U.S netminder Maddie Rooney who made the save. Poulin, trailing the
play, got a handle on the rebound to knock it into the net.

“I
thought that we played pretty well, but I don’t think we played with enough
speed,” said Robb Stauber, head coach of the U.S. Women’s National Team. “We
did a good job of controlling the puck and getting some chances. We’ve got to
turn around and do it again [on Tuesday].”

Canada was
beleaguered by penalties in the first two periods, just as they had in the
opening two games of this series. They started both the second and third
periods on the penalty kill. However, they took momentum in the third with
three power play opportunities of their own.

“I think especially
in the second half of the game, we forechecked really well, especially in the
neutral zone we cut off their speed and took control in the (offensive)-zone
and we weren’t scared to make mistakes,” said Canadian net minder Shannon
Szabados (Edmonton, Atla./Hockey Canada). “I think that was the biggest thing.
The girls looked like they were playing a little more free tonight.”

In overtime, Rebecca
Johnston (Sudbury, Ont./Calgary, CWHL) fired a pass to Jenner at the top of the
circles who then took a few steps in and wired a shot over the U.S. net minders
blocker to secure the win.

“I think the third
period was our best period. I think we put the pressure on them so it was nice
to get rewarded for doing some good things,” said Jenner. “We believe in this
group and we believe we can win any given night no matter our opponent so it
was great to prove that to ourselves tonight.”

The teams will meet
again on Dec. 5 for game four of the series in Winnipeg (8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT).
The series then shifts back to the U.S. in San Jose, Calif. on Dec. 15 and a
final game will be played Dec. 17 in Edmonton, Alta.

Ice Chips:The U.S. added
National Women’s Hockey League Boston Pride forward Haley Skarupa to their
residency program in late November.

Skarupa has
previously won three consecutive gold medals with the U.S. national team at the
IIHF Women’s World Championship (2015-2017) and played in three 4 Nations Cup
tournaments.

Sidney Morin has also
been added to the residency program to be considered for a spot on the 2018
Olympic roster which will be announced on Jan. 1, 2018.

Morin helped lead the
U.S. under 18 women’s national team to a silver medal at the 2013 IIHF Under-18
Women’s World Championship. She played 21 games for MODO Hockey of the Swedish
Women’s Hockey League this season.

Established in 1999, HockeyNow is the only magazine delivering the best in news and stories from across the minor, junior, collegiate and female hockey ranks, both in print and through our world-class website at HockeyNow.ca. Print copies of our 43 annual issues are available free in hockey rinks across B.C., Alberta, and Ontario. We are deeply involved and committed to developing and promoting the game of hockey to our readers through unique perspectives and stories they won’t find anywhere else. See more...